Brake-lever.



J. H. MOOLARBN.

BRAKE LEVER APPLIOATION FILED MAY 12, 1908 Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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J. H. MOCLAREN.

BRAKE LEVER.

APPLIOATIUN FILED MAY 12, 1908. 91 2,595 Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1/91 in now UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. MCOLAREN, OF WEST UNION, OHIO.

BBAKE-LEVERi To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. MOGLAREN, citizen of the United States,residing at West Union, in the county of Adams and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Levers, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention contemplates certain new and useful improvements inoperating levers of the manual type, and the object of the invention isan improved device of this character which is adapted particularly foruse in connection with the brake mechanism of a vehicle, and whichembodies peculiar means for effecting the maximum movement of the brakerod whereby to hold the brake shoes against the wheels with greaterforce, or when the brake shoes are not in use, in greater spacedrelation to the wheels.

l Vith this and other objects in view that will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructionsand arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe,and then point out the novel features thereof, in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and toacquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to behad to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of my improved operating device; Fig. 2is a simi lar view illustrating the use of the secondary lever; Fig. 3is a detail view in perspective, of the bifurcated end of the elbowlever, showing its engagement with the bolt; Fig. 4 is a similar view ofthe lower end of the trip bar and the free end of the detent.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription, and indi cated in all the views of the drawings, by thesame reference characters.

My improved device embodies a main lever 1 which is fulcrumed at itslower end on a suitable support, such as the side of a wagon box, andwhich is provided near its upper end with a spring catch 2 that is ofany desired construction, and is arranged to en gage a segment 3 carriedby the support, to hold the lever in any desired adjusted posi tion.This lever is formed intermediate of its ends and below the segment 3with a forward extension& which is disposed clown- Speoification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed May 12, 1908.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

Serial No. 432,474.

wardly toward the lower end of the lever, and which is formed with alongitudinal slot 5 that is enlarged at its forward end, as indicated at6, a brace 7 connecting the forward end of the extension with the lowerend of the lever 1, to strengthen the former.

8 designates a brake rod, the forward end of which is bifurcated, asindicated at 9, so as to embrace the main lever l, with its bifurcationsextending forwardly therebeyond, and being connected by a bolt 10 thatis mounted in the slot 5 in the extension, to slidingly connect thebrake rod thereto, the ends of said bolt projecting laterally beyond thebifurcations, as indicated at 11. One of the bifurcations 9 of the brakerod, is provided with an outstanding stud 12 that is mounted in a slot13 formed in the lower arm 14 of a secondary lever which is fulcrumedintermediate of its ends on the main lever 1, and which has its upperarm 15 preferably forwardly offset, as shown. The upper arm 15 isdesigned to be moved forwardly and rearwardly relative to the main lever1, so to exert a rearward or forward tension upon the brake rod andeffect the de sired movement of the bolt 10 in the slot 5. \Vhen thebolt 10 is positioned at the forward end of the slot 5, it is receivedin the enlarged portion 6 thereof and is thus effectually held againstany rearward displacement, it being therefore necessary to raise thebolt in the enlarged portion 6, before it is possible to move the boltagainst the rear end of the slot by the proper manipulation of thesecondary lever. In order to raise the bolt in the enlarged portion, Iprovide an elbow lever 16 which is fulcrumed near its elbow on the mainlever 1, and the lower arm of which is provided with two bifurcations 17which are disposed downwardly on opposite sides of the extension l, andthe extremities of which are returned upon themselves to constitutehooks 18 that are arranged to engage the projecting ends 11 of the bolt10 when the latter is positioned in the enlarged portion 6, an expansionsprin 19 being interposed between the rear arm of the elbow lever andthe main lever 1, so as to normally hold the hooks below the upper wallof the slot 5 and thus lock the bolt 10 in the enlarged portion 6. Aconnecting rod 20 is pivotally secured at one end to the upper arm ofthe elbow lever 16, and at its other end to a releasing lever 21 whichis fulcrumed at one end on 7 after which the forward movement of theupper arm 15 of the secondary lever, will move the bolt against the rearend of the slot.

in order to hold the bolt 10 against forward displacement when it ispositioned against the rear end of the slot, I provide a spring actuateddetent 22 which is fulcrumed atone end on the main lever 1, and theotheror free end of which is held against the rear edge of the upper arm15 of the secondary lever, and is arranged to spring into engagementwith a notch 23 in said edge, when the secondary lever has been swungforwardly relative to the main lever 1, the free end of the detent beingforked, as indicated at 24, so as to embrace said upper arm and hold thedetent against lateral displacement. The upper arm 15 of the secondarylever, is formed with a slot 25 which extends above and below the notch23, and in which is mounted a transverse stud 26 that extends betweenthe bifurcations 27 formed at the lower end of a trip bar 28, the otherend of said trip bar being mounted upon the upper arm of the secondarylever near the upper end thereof, and being rearwardly disposed to forma finger grip 29, by means of which the trip bar may be readily movedupwardly to cause the bifurcations 27 thereof to bear against the forkedportions 24f of the detent, and swing the latter out of engagement withthe notch 23, and thus release the secondary lever and permit the sameto be manipulated to swing the bolt 10 forwardly in the slot In thepractical use of my improved brake ope 'ating device, when it is desiredto swing the brake shoes into an inoperative position away from thewheels, the main lever 1 is swung toward the rear end of the segment 8,to effect the rearward movement of the brake rod 8. The releasing lever21 is then swung upwardly to raise the bolt 10 in the enlarged portion 6of the slot 5, and the upper arm 15 of the secondary lever is swungforwardly relative to the main lever 1, so as to exert a rearwardtension upon the brake rod and move the bolt against the rear end of theslot, to effect the further rearward apply the brake shoes to thewheels, the trip bar 28 is moved upwardly to disengage the detent fromthe upper arm 15 of the secondary lever, and the latter is swungrearwardly relative to the main lever 1, so as to move the bolt 10forwardly through the slot 5 to the enlarged end 6 thereof, and thusexert a for ward tension upon the brake red, the main lever 1 being thenmoved toward the forward end of the segment, to efiect the continuedforward movement of the brake rod, and swing the brake shoes forciblyagainst the wheels,

It will be noted that as the bolt 10 is nearer the fulcrumed point ofthe main lever, when positioned in the enlarged portion of the slot thanwhen at the rear end thereof,

the shifting of the bolt into such enlarged portion before the movementof the main lever 1 toward the forward end of'the seg ment to effect theapplication of the brake shoes, renders it possible to obtain greaterpower or leverage upon the brake rod.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In an operating device, the combination of a main hand lever formedwith a slot angularly disposed to the longitudinal axis thereof, a rodhaving a sliding connection at one end with the slot, and means carriedby the lever and connected to the rod and arranged to shift the latterin the slot, as and for the purpose specified. V

2. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed withan angularly disposed extension having a longitudinal slot, a rod havinga sliding connect-ion at one end with said slot, and a secondary leverfulcrumed on the main leverand connected to said rod and arranged tomove the end thereof in the slot. V

3. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod having a sliding connection at one end with ,7

havin slidin connect-ion at one end with V said slot, a secondary leverfulcrumed on the main lever and connected to said rod, said secondarylever being arranged to move said end of the rod toward the nearer endof the slot. and means for holding said rod against said end of theslot.

5. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod provided at one end with a bolt slidin-gly mounted in theslot, a secondary lever f-ulcrumed intermediate of its ends on the mainlever, one arm of said lever having a sliding connection with the rodand the other arm of said lever being formed with a notch, and a f alimited movement of the trip bar, to cause spring actuated detentfulcrumed on the main lever and arranged to be engaged in the notch, asand for the purpose specified.

6. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod provided at one end with a bolt slidingly mounted in theslot, a secondary lever fulcrumed intermediate of its ends on the mainlever, one arm of said last named lever having a sliding connection withthe rod, and the other arm of said lever being formedwith a notch, and aspring actuated detent fulcrumed at one end on the main lever andarranged for engagement at its other or free end with the notch, thefree end of said detent being forked to embrace the secondary lever, asand for the purpose specified.

7. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod provided at one end with a bolt slidingly mounted in theslot, a secondary lever fulcrumed intermediate of its ends on the mainlever, one arm of said last named lever having a sliding connection withthe rod and the other arm of said lever being formed with a notch, aspring actuated detent fulcrumed on the main lever and arranged forengagement with the notch, and means carried by the secondary lever fordisengaging the detent from the notch.

8. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod having a sliding connection at one end with the slot, asecondary lever fulcrumed intermediate of its ends on the main lever,one arm of said secondary lever having a sliding connection with the rodand the other arm of said lever being formed with a notch, a springactuated detent fulcrumed at one end on the main lever and havingits'other end arranged for engagement with the notch, and a trip barcarried by said last named arm of the secondary lever and adapted todisengage the free end thereof from the notch.

9. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed with aslot, a rod having a sliding connection at one end with the slot, asecondary lever fulcrumed intermediate of its ends on the main lever,one arm of said secondary lever having a sliding connection with the rodand the other arm of said lever being formed with a notch and with aslot contiguous to said notch, a spring actuated detent fulcrumed at oneend on the main lever and having its free end arranged for engagementwith the notch, the free end of said detent being forked to embrace saidsecondary lever, a trip bar mounted on said last named arm of thesecondary lever and bifurcated at one end, and a stud extending betweensaid bifurcations and mounted in the slot in said armof the secondarylever and arranged to permit the bifurcations thereof to bear againstthe forked portions of the detent to disengage the same from the notch.

10. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot, a rod having a sliding connection at one end with the slot, 21secondary lever fulcrumed on said main lever and connected to said rodso as to move said end thereof toward the far end of the slot, and meansfor retaining said end of the rod in position at said end of the slot,as and for the purpose specified.

11. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot enlarged at its far end, a rod having a sliding connection at oneend with the slot, and a secondary lever fulcrumed on the main lever andconnected to the rod, so as to move said end thereof into the enlargedend of the slot.

12. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot enlarged at its far end, a rod slidingly mounted at one end inthe slot and arranged to be received in the enlarged end thereof, a secondary lever fulcrumed on the main lever and connected to the rod so asto move said end thereof in the slot, and means for raising said end ofthe rod in the enlarged end of the slot, as and for the purposespecified.

13. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot enlarged at its far end, a rod slidingly mounted at one end inthe slot and arranged to be received in the enlarged end thereof, asecondary lever fulcrumed on the main lever and connected to the rod soas to move said end thereof in the slot, a hook carried by the mainlever and arranged for engagement with said end of the rod, and meansfor swinging said hook to raise said end of the rod in the enlargedportion of the slot.

14. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot enlarged at its far end, a rod slidingly mounted at one end inthe slot and arranged to be received in the enlarged end thereof, asecondary lever fulcrumed on the main lever and connected to the rod soas to move said end thereof in the slot, means for raising said end ofthe rod in the enlarged end of the slot, an elbow lever fulcrumed at itselbow on the main lever, one arm of said elbow lever carrying a hookarranged for engagement with said end of the rod, an expansion springinterposed between the other arm of the elbow lever and the main leverand normally holding the hook below the upper wall of the slot, andmeans for carrying the elbow lever against the tension of the spring,whereby to raise the said end of the rod in the enlarged portion of theslot.

15. In an operating device, the combination of a main lever formed witha slot enlarged at its far end, a rod bifurcated at one end to embracethe main lever, a bolt mounted in the slot and extending between saidbifurcations and projecting laterally therebeyond, said bolt beingarranged to be received in the enlarged portion of the slot, a secondarylever fulcrumed on the main lever and having a connection at one endwith the rod, so as to exert a tension upon the same to move the boltagainst the near end of the slot, an elbow lever fulcrumed at its elbowon the main lever, one arm of said elbow lever being formed withbifurcations, the

.extrernities of which are hooked and arranged for engagement with thepro ect1ng portions of the bolt, a connecting rod pivotally connected atone end to the other arm of the elbow lever, and a releasing leverfulcrumed on the main lever to which the other end of the connecting rodis secured, said releasing lever being arranged to be swung upwardly,whereby to rock the elbow lever and raise the bolt in the enlargedportion of the slot. r

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. MCCLAREN. [1,. s.] Witnesses:

L. B. ARMACOST, ILL P. STEPHENSON.

